sequim

Flour tortilla (one) in a fry pan - no mess to clean up as I don't use oil, I just brown the tort on both sides, then add my toppings until the cheese melts and the bottom is crisp. You have to be careful to not slop anything on the pan and then you don't have cleanup! I don't like microwaves, no browning....

Oh dear I wish I hadn't bought two jars of black bean sauce as so far, I haven't liked the taste....

I wasn't sure where to start this thread, at first I thought about in the Other Asian forum, but then I figured it was a cooking technique problem I had. So here I am... After reading Nessa's foodblog I got inspired to try her spring rolls as the recipe seemed straight-forward, easy and the results looked delicious. I was looking forward to a nice summer munchy and even bought the special Chee Hou sauce she mentions. So I tried. I carefully proceeded through the recipe, not substituting or taking any deviations. However, my result was a mess. The spring roll wrappers (I bought a package in my local Chinatown District, I think it was something like TLJ Spring Roll Pastry) basically fell apart when dipped in water. So I stopped dipping them, but then when rolling them up, they wouldn't stick together. Plus they kept breaking and I had to double wrap them. Aargh. The recipe takes marinated and then drained napa cabbage and carrots which I food-processed to fine bits, then I soaked bean threads and cut them into small pieces, and finally some cooked chicken and scallions that were marinated and processed to bits. When I did eat the spring rolls, the wrapper was not the springy taste sensation I expected but was alittle papery. To top it off, the filling was too fluffy, not dense with a good crunch like the spring rolls I know. I tried to steam them for a bit, thinking this would help to make them springy, but no, it only made them fall apart more. So where did I go wrong? BTW, looking back at Nessa's blog, I see that her wrapper in the photo did not look anything like mine. Hers was more transparent and looked rubbery.

Can someone tell me the difference between black beans and black bean sauce? Is black bean sauce supposed to be rinsed? I know it is very salty and I've frequently used it then not liked the resulting dish because of that.

No one famous or infamous, just my dad who died when I was 11. I wish I could have gotten to know him. He was an adventurous eater, and before he died he took us to Europe and at 10 I got to taste escargots in France, mutton and eel in Norway and good chocolate on a train to Germany. He also opened my eyes to the fact that you could eat meat other than bacon and cheese for breakfast with no eggs in sight, as we did in Denmark! I'd love to cook for him and talk to him. And to see if he'd like to drink wine as back then, they always drank cocktails...

tsquare also mentioned this at Lola's: Awesome goat cheese pie - a light yet dense cheesecake, with orange caramel and fresh strawberries. I'm going Friday and might just have to try it....

Well he did say in the article linked above the following: "We'll be playing with Greek food," says Douglas, describing the cuisine at his proposed 100-seat restaurant and bar. Here, he says, "We'll be mingling Northwest products in the Greek style..." Sounds like Greek-fusion to me!

My lunch-time food buddy and I have a rez at Lola's next Friday. I cannot wait! If anyone's gone for lunch and want to recommend anything, please do.

Agreed. A Blizzard and a burger are great after you've been hiking or biking on a hot day.

Snowballs! Especially if there's a holiday and they've got colored ones... Juice drinks. Plenty of types to choose from. Check out the store for anything local-made, like Poppers. Ben & Jerry's ice cream bars, love Peace Pops. I have a strange fascination with these places and how everything is crammed in. So much to look at, so much designed to draw the eye with bright colors and packaging. I feel like buying yet I know it's all poison...

Oh no I beg to differ. Bacon and OJ definitely. If I have bacon and eggs, I must have OJ. After all, it's sweet and salty!

Mmmm, how do they indicate their expectation? Do they give you a dirty look when you give them 10%? I tip on takeout and agree with Beans on the why's. Someone took the time to put your food together. I especially like those places that offer you a table and glass of water while you wait. That's great service!

But you're asking Lemony to forgive and give Ovio another shot... Do you live in West Seattle? I think it's the obligation of us west seattle-ites to help our neighborhood places to improve and perhaps some constructive criticism could have helped in both these cases. If you give them your criticism and they blow you off, well then, I can see why you wouldn't want to ever go back as they don't care enough to improve things....

Have you been to La Rustica, reesek? Just wondering what you thought of the place. Aren't they considered high-end food? I've been there just once, but I love their location! And the food was good too although we only had steak.

I was sad to see your report of Ovio because, as a place I've heard raved about, and also being just three blocks from my place as well, I've been wanting to go there. I've only been once for wine and appetizers. Maybe you should have been honest with the server, though. Let her know how you were disappointed, don't you think that would have helped them? After all, being in your neighborhood, wouldn't you like it to remain there and be a good place to go? I'm interested in their special wine/food pairing dinners and have wanted to start going to these (especially the September one with the K vintner ) and I do know someone who goes to these and thinks they're wonderful. So maybe as Tsquare mentioned, they were having an off-night.... since you live near by, maybe you should try them again, go by yourself and just have a couple things.

I think so. You want natural bitter from maybe greens, versus an induced bitterness. Although perhaps there are condiments which are considered bitter.

That's wierd. Once a long long time ago, I drank a lot of tequila with a friend, and we suddenly went into mission mode and climbed the up back fire escape of a frat house where some guy she liked lived. SEE! This is for all those sceptics.

Thanks Trillium, yes, you're correct, it was the cooking class. I just wanted to get bolder than I had been and see what happened. I'm always hearing of people putting the big flame/heat on and having great results. You mentioned bitter as something to be avoided, but isn't bitter a flavor in its own right and sometimes it is appropriate? I like the emphasis of not sticking to exact measurements but to see how the dish evolves and work with it. I have tended to not taste enough in the past with my cooking but just blindly follow a recipe and I've paid the price. Finally, I'm starting to change my tune.

Not me. I find it a play on words. That's it. Reading things into it is liking playing a record backwards to find the hidden meaning...

I am so sick of "my bad". I don't watch much TV and when I first read this in a post, I thought it was a typo. Then I started seeing it more and more. I'm assuming it came from some TV show or other. Do people realize how stupid it sounds? All the eGullet posts should have "my bad" excised from them.

I love cookbooks to have wine suggestions with their recipes. This is so helpful for a novice like me. And the good suggestions here. I tend to not like the sweeter wines so stay away from Rieslings and the like although once in awhile they're fine. But I like the idea of Pinot as it's becoming one of my favorites (liquid chicken ) and whites like Sauv Blanc. I did have a Pinot Gris this week with my chinese meal and it was perfect. That made me surprised, epiphany worthy, as I hadn't had good luck in the past with wine so was thinking it was hopeless.

Thanks for starting this thread Big Bunny! Interesting ideas for wines. Tea doesn't do it for me, at least not for dinner, and beer is not quite right either. It must be wine and I know in my heart it can work. It'll just take some experimentation. I've been thinking about trying Pinots (they're becoming a favorite of mine) when I'm not sure what to drink with something.

That does sound good! Sweet goes well with blue cheese. I've had gorgonzola with a very nice chestnut honey.

No kidding! I know I took the soggy rice and egg route before, so thought I'd try the sliced egg and that wasn't totally aesthetic looking.

Unless you are in Alabama.... Really, oops. I'm from the northwest, I guess we're more sheltered here from people using racist terms.